Friendly spring conditions at Cape Lookout today provided plenty of nice flights for 20+ paras and 4 hangs (Ray, Steve, Luke and myself). After an hour+ of trimming brushes ( 10-11:15) with Ray B, Mike C and Steve S at launch, we finally felt a bit of wind blowing at launch. John Kraske and few paras decided to give it a try, and though it was a light breeze (2-3mph), all were able to climb above launch quickly, which indicated being soarable. I launched at 12:10am in almost zero wind while heading towards the Cape and also climbed up rather quickly as well. There was plenty of ridge lifts with some gentle thermals. Ray launched 15 mins after me and we shared the air with lots of paragliders. All of us soared the entire Cape in super buoyant air. Back and forth trips to the end of the Cape and to launch was easy today. Beach land started disappearing quickly due to the high surf (Sneaker Waves), so Ray made the first landing and I followed at 2:45pm ( l got in 2 hrs & 35 mins flight ). Steve S and Luke launched around 3pm, being the remaining 2 pilots in the air, as I left at 4:40pm. It's likely that they landed on the rocks.
Hang pilot Ray Berger Report:
Great day at CLO today, went to North point and 1900 max before I landed after 2 hours. Rick got about 2 1/2 hours. Really turned on after we both landed too when Steve finally took off and Lucas from Xmas Valley. Large paragliding crew all day. Good seeing everybody out after such a wet winter. Ill let Rick fill in the details. Did some trimming before we launched too but it got soarable early with Kraske leading the way. Ray
Paraglider John K report
Yes, it was a fine CLO day for sure. As Rick points out there was very little wind at launch, but the trees across and above the highway were moving pretty steadily. The evergreens below launch and at both sides of the launch were bouncing as well. It took me several attempts to get my wing up into the flow before I pushed off and instantly up I went; wind dummy away! I was way above my normal crossing the gap altitude by the time I got to the crossing point, but opted to test the lift going the other way. Turned out it was everywhere. I worked the new clear cut and found some interesting thermals being generated out of the lee side of that cut. Very sudden and a bit edgy. Way fun too. Thinking I had some tandems to fly I gave it all up and landed by the day use gazebo and dropped my wing in a small tree boarding the fenced picnic area. I guess I failed to consider the wind was from the nw. It took very little effort to get untangled and packed up. I recruited a tandem passenger to test the U-Turn tandem I was testing. OMG, what a fun and sporty wing. My new love! Later Nick Nuzum and local construction guy who had given me a ride back up to launch at Maxwell last year showed up to collect on my promise of, “You gave me a ride, I owe you a ride” promise I’d made. Nick is a 130 pounds and we went straight up. Had some fun with wing overs and spiral dives before we landed at the Group Campground, pretty as can be. Nick’s a natural. A good day and me thinks a few of us are headed back that way tomorrow again. Weatherunderground makes it look damned inviting. The season is here!
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